I often prefer cooking chicken thighs over chicken breasts. Thighs are juicy, more flavorful, and don’t dry out. I use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs most often.

The thing I don’t like about using skin-on chicken pieces is all the extra skin that is left on when you bring them home from the store.

Use your kitchen shears to trim off all that extra skin and discard.

This dish comes together in a snap, it only takes about 15 minutes to prep and is in the oven for about 45 minutes while you prepare the rest of the dinner. I like to serve the thighs and their rich herb sauce over couscous.

When you use the side of your chef’s knife to lightly smash the garlic cloves, you are looking for each clove to break up slightly, making each clove come apart into 2 or 3 smaller pieces. You don’t want to obliterate them, use a light touch.

You can purchase the pancetta at Trader Joe’s. It comes in a convenient 4-ounce package and is already diced into the perfect size. Simply open the package and scatter over the chicken when called for.

I made this quick and easy appetizer for Sunday dinner with my dad. I only toasted six slices of bread on the grill for our meal. Then I ate this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next several days, using the toaster to toast the bread as needed. Now I miss it and want more. It really is that good!

The recipe calls for Aleppo pepper flakes. Aleppo chili pepper is from the Syrian town of Aleppo near the southern Turkish border. Aleppo pepper has moderate heat with a mild and sweet undertone, a bit of fruitiness, and a hint of saltiness.

Aleppo is a wonderful substitute for the usual crushed red peppers. In fact, I nearly always use Aleppo pepper in place of regular crushed red chilies on pizza, in pasta and salads, on my morning eggs, really all day long. You can find Aleppo pepper online, at specialty stores and I’ve even found it locally at Safeway.

Roasted Tomato Toast

• 2 – 3 pounds mixed tomatoes *
• Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 lemon, washed and dried
• Baguette, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 3 tablespoons minced chives
• Sea salt (I adore Maldon sea salt flakes)
• Crushed Aleppo pepper

(* Mixed tomatoes are a mix of colors and types such as cherry, Roma, pear, beefsteak, etc)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.

Cut large tomatoes into cubes, slice larger cherry tomatoes in half and leave small cherry or pear tomatoes whole. Place tomatoes on the prepared baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes or until the smaller whole tomatoes burst. Remove from oven and set aside.

Use a Microplane or small grater to remove the zest from the lemon over a small bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside. Cut the lemon in half and set it aside.

While the tomatoes are roasting, in a small bowl, mix the garlic and mayonnaise together.  Squeeze in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate. Keep that lemon handy, you may want to add more juice later.

Either toast the baguette slices in a toaster or toaster oven or heat the grill and toast.

There is so much to talk about today!

First of all, do you want $100 in cash? For free? If so, you still have time to enter and a shot at winning it. Just leave a comment here and you’re in the Wednesday drawing. That’s all you have to do!

You can just say, “Hang in there baby, Monday’s almost over.” Or, “Hey Linda, I understand your life is in a state of change and flux but you really need to get back to posting recipes more often!” Or just, “Hi.”  Anyhow, learn more about the Happy 8th Blogiversary Contest at this Link and leave a comment today.

Secondly, feast your eyes on this hilarious vintage-style oven mitt that my adorable friend, Lisa, gave me! She told me she had a prize for me (what I did to deserve a prize, I don’t know, but I need to figure it out so I can do it again and again!)  I love it! Thank you, Lisa! xoxo.  The oven mitt says so and it is true, below there is a new recipe that I’m droppin’ on y’all.

Lastly, have you heard that in just about 2 hours there is going to be a total eclipse of the sun? No one is talking about it, but it’s true! It’s all going down at 10:34 AM, Arizona Time. If you’re like me and don’t have eclipse glasses and have been too lazy to make a viewing box, set your timer and look out the window and see how dark it looks and say, “Well, that was cool.” and go about your day.

The boys all came over for dinner last night and I made yummy smashed new potatoes. When I was taking photos of the process, I inadvertently made my own little potato eclipse. Cool! No special glasses are needed to view this baby!

Wrecking Ball Baby Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary

• 20 new (baby) potatoes
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
• Sea salt (preferably Maldon Sea Salt Flakes)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh minced rosemary leaves

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It has taken all week, but we are finally finishing up with the appetizers from the Friday the 13^th Dinner Party.

Next week – Dinner and Dessert recipes.

The Lucky ingredient in this recipe is garlic. There are too many superstitions surrounding garlic to list, here are but a few:

Dreaming that there is “garlic in the house” is supposedly lucky; to dream about eating garlic means you will discover hidden secrets.

European folklore gives garlic the ability to ward off the “evil eye”. Central European folks believe garlic is a powerful ward against devils, werewolves, and vampires.

It became custom for Greek midwives to hang garlic cloves in birthing rooms to keep the evil spirits away. As the centuries passed, this ancient custom became commonplace in most European homes.

Putting a garlic clove under a child’s pillow while he/she sleeps is believed to protect him/her from evil.

And the list goes on…

Garlic Confit & Chèvre on Toasts

Garlic Confit

• 3 large or 5 small heads of garlic
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Water
• 2 tablespoons high-quality balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed in the palm of your hand before using
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed in the palm of your hand

Toasts

• 1 sourdough baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• Olive oil

5 to 6-ounce log Chèvre (goat cheese), room temperature

Garlic Confit in a Balsamic Reduction: Lightly tap each head of garlic with the side of a chef’s knife or a meat pounder to separate the cloves.

Remove the peels by using one of these two methods:

Place cloves in a small saucepan. Cover completely with boiling water, place over medium-high heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
Drain and then immediately place in a bowl of ice-cold water for 2 minutes. Drain and then peel the cloves, the peels should slide right off.

~OR~

Place the cloves in a metal bowl.

Place another metal bowl of the same size over the top and shake the “bowl ball” you have created like crazy. When you think you have shaken enough, shake some more. This is a good workout, so keep shaking! Do you feel your muscles building and burning? Keep shaking, it will be worth it!

Take a peek and see if you need to keep going or not. Pick out the peeled garlic cloves and discard the loose skins.

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My intention was to give you another recipe using up the polenta trimmings from this recipe.

That has been put on the back burner. Instead, I could not wait to share with you our family’s new favorite way to eat broccoli.

Bonus: The recipe is easy peasy lemon squeezy. It has three ingredients… well five, if you count the salt and pepper.

All you need is a head of broccoli, a bit of olive oil, and 3 garlic cloves. I like to use the 3-pound bag of broccoli florets from Costco.

I use half of it one night, saving the zip-lock bag I’ve tossed the broccoli in (fold it up and stick right into the bag with the broccoli) throw that in the fridge and then pull it out, a night or two later, and make another batch.

Warning: This stuff is toasted, roasted, crispy, crunchy, and completely addicting!

Important Tip: Do not wash the broccoli right before using, do it well ahead of time and allow it to dry completely, otherwise your roasted broccoli will not crisp up the way you need it to.

I like the broccoli just as the recipe is written, but feel free to “jazz it up” with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese, just before you put it on the table. Then watch it disappear!

Note: Maybe you’ve already seen something close to this recipe. For example, Ina Garten’s Barefood Contessa Back to Basics cookbook from 2008 has a Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli recipe in it. It has 8 ingredients – plus salt and pepper. I made Ina’s recipe, way back then, and although we liked it… we love this streamlined version.

One More Tip: The recipe serves four. If you have four people, I guarantee there will not be leftovers. If you only have two people, there still may not be leftovers… but if there are, do not reheat in the microwave! Fire up that oven and throw the leftovers back in for 5 to 8 minutes to re-crisp. The microwave ruins it! Zaps the crispness, the crunchiness, all the goodness from it! Trust me, I learned the hard way.

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These shrimp are not only perfect for Cinco de Mayo but equally so for a quick weeknight meal or a big party.

We’re looking forward to going to the James’ annual Cinco de Mayo party tonight! See you soon, Lisa! Eieieiei Ariba!

Guajillo [gwah-HEE-yoh] chiles are dried peppers with a bright tangy taste and kick of heat. Find them in the grocery store alongside the other Hispanic ingredients.

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This is another of Bruce Aidells’ recipes from the December 2011 issue of Bon Appétit that I used for our Christmas dinners last week.

One important tip when roasting a whole beef tenderloin is to tuck under the tail end. Because the tenderloin narrows at one end, the thin portion must be tucked under itself and secured with a little kitchen twine, so that it will cook at the same rate as the rest of the roast.

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In case you still have your Arizona Republic newspaper from today (May 23rd), check out page 4 of the D section.  If you don’t get or don’t still have the paper, you can see the same thing at this link from AZCentral.com

We attended a wonderful college graduation party on Saturday for my dear friend Laura’s daughter Megan. Laura and I have been friends since high school, we were in each others’ weddings, and are godmothers to each others’ children. Laura and her two sisters, Mary and Shawna, are like my sisters, they are my second family, so there was plenty of reminiscing going on all afternoon.

One of the many things that came up was food (of course!) and one of those foods was these wonderful little garlic bread balls served at a restaurant at the Venice Pier in Marina Del Rey, California, C & O Trattoria.

They are called “Killer Garlic Balls” for good reason – they are free, brought to the table throughout the meal, and are amazingly addictive. If you think the endless chips and salsa at Mexican restaurants are bad…

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Remember to check out my Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline. Turkey Day is only 8 days away!!!

One other note before getting on with it… To the students in my series classes at Les Gourmettes Cooking School: The recipe for the pepitas I used in the soup last night can be found by – CLICKING HERE – it will take you to the link from an older post. Happy Thanksgiving, see you on November 30th!

What we have today is another “easy-breezy” recipe that you can nake as written or mix it up with what you have on hand. This version uses Italian parsley, but cilantro would be a great substitute or a mix of parsley and cilantro. Even switching from Italian parsley to curly parsley would change it up. The topper I used is shrimp – but minced chicken or turkey, coarsely chopped scallops with a little pancetta, or even flaked crab or tuna would also work fabulously. And of course, the cheeses and spices can be altered depending on the occasion or your taste. Let me know what ideas you have – I’d love to try them out!

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Luckily none of my students are (or need to be) on a low-carb diet. We had an entire day of breads and sandwiches. Focaccia, quick bread, biscuits, cookie sandwiches, and these yeast dough cuties. If you don’t have time to make your own dough, you can purchase frozen dough at the grocery store or fresh dough from a store such as Trader Joe’s. The knots are fun to tie and with a little practice end up looking very “restaurant quality” professional. Just be sure to have fun with it! As you can see in the picture below, the teen boys in this week’s class did – great job guys! And that’s my fabulous son/assistant, Connor, lurking in the background.

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